Justice McLachlin, who today marks one decade leading the Supreme Court of Canada, Told Canwest News Service she expects the most pressing legal issues facing the court in the coming years will be where to draw the line on anti-terrorism initiatives and how to deal with the nation’s growing diversity as minorities challenge “established social order.”

By Janice Tibbetts, National Post

OTTAWA – Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who took over a court 10 years ago that was under siege from the political right, says the critics who accused the bench of overstepping its power seem to have gone away because their anxiety over the Charter of Rights has subsided.

Justice McLachlin, who today marks one decade leading the Supreme Court of Canada, Told Canwest News Service she expects the most pressing legal issues facing the court in the coming years will be where to draw the line on anti-terrorism initiatives and how to deal with the nation’s growing diversity as minorities challenge “established social order.”

In a rare interview in her corner office overlooking the snow-blanketed Ottawa River, Justice McLachlin, 66, reflected on a decade in which terrorism erupted into an international preoccupation, the Supreme Court experienced a near turnaround in judges, and vocal court bashers seem to have vanished.

“I don’t know why but there’s less anxiety perhaps about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, I think people feel that it is a good thing on the whole, that it is not going to be simply a licence for judges to do simply what they want to do,” Justice McLachlin said.

“I think people regard the Supreme Court of Canada and the justice system with some pride, and they should. I am happy with my impression of how the court is perceived.”

Justice McLachlin also acknowledged there may be less fodder for critics because many contentious Charter rights were resolved before her time as chief justice and much of the last decade has been devoted to fine-tuning.

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Tags: Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, justice system, Supreme Court of Canada, Terrorism

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